After the vote, Senate President Pete Kelly, R-Fairbanks, released a prepared statement calling the tax “absurd on its face” and added, “As I’ve said many times, the only thing standing between Alaskans and an income tax is the Senate.”

If HB 115 is approved by the Senate and signed by Gov. Bill Walker, single Alaskans making between $14,300 and $50,000 per year will pay 2.5 percent of their adjusted gross income to the state. Alaskans making more money will pay a higher rate.

A single Alaskan making $50,000 per year will pay $992.50. Someone making $100,000 per year will pay $2,992.50.

A couple earning $100,000 per year will pay $1,985. A couple earning $200,000 per year will pay $5,985.

Since 2012, lawmakers have cut more than 44 percent from the state’s overall budget, according to figures from the nonpartisan Legislative Finance Division. Despite those cuts, the state still faces a $2.8 billion annual deficit, brought about by depressed oil prices.

The coalition majority in the House has introduced a four-part plan to erase that deficit by 2020. The parts (or “pillars,” to use the majority’s jargon) include cuts to the operating budget, cuts to state subsidies for oil and gas drilling, spending from the earnings of the Alaska Permanent Fund, and some kind of “broad-based tax,” jargon that this year means an income tax.

The tax is expected to generate only $687 million to pay down the deficit — and that not until fiscal year 2020 — but supporters said it is necessary to balance the burden of fixing the problem.

“HB 115 will balance and spread the impact equitably,” said Rep. Paul Seaton, R-Homer and a coalition member of the Alaska House Finance Committee. “This will complete the comprehensive, sustainable fiscal plan that so many Alaskans have asked us to do.”

Speaking on the floor, Rep. Andy Josephson, D-Anchorage, said passing the tax is necessary to pass other components of the deficit-fighting plan.

“A number of my colleagues are not going to support a dividend-only cut. They want a balanced plan. A balanced plan. And I can’t blame them,” he said.

Rep. Justin Parish, D-Juneau, said no one likes the idea of a tax, but he’s willing to support one to avoid greater budget cuts that will harm Alaskans. One in three Juneau jobs are funded directly by state or local government, according to figures from the Juneau Economic Development Council.

Parish’s voice broke as he spoke about how some students in the Juneau School District don’t get enough to eat.